Pok Pok...Delicious Thai food in Portland!

 Pok Pok's Kai Yaang

Last weekend my friend and I decided it would be a perfect night to go out to dinner in Portland ("for the food blog!" of course). We had heard many recommendations for a place called Pok Pok, including a raving review from her Sommelier/expert-of-all-things-food at the restaurant where she works. We couldn't get there fast enough!

Pok Pok is located at 3226 SE Division St in Portland, OR in a very distinct looking building. They have Christmas lights up after Christmas and have a large outdoor seating area enclosed with plastic. Another friend of mine mentioned to me that she almost went in before but thought it looked a little "sketchy." But let me tell you, it isn't "sketchy," and the food they serve there is as good as any you could get in Thailand (OK, honestly I've never been to Thailand, but the food is so good it HAS to be true!). According to the 2010 Fearless Critic Portland Restaurant Guide (an awesome book I suggest anyone who loves to eat in Portland buy), Pok Pok is the fourth tastiest restaurant in Portland. They have this to say about Pok Pok,

"If you haven’t spent serious time in Thailand (and outside touristy areas), forget everything you think you know, and experience what Thai food really is (and then wonder why on earth no one else is doing this): lime, chili, fish sauce, fermented shrimp paste. Sour, spicy, salty, umami. Amazing." 

Pandanus leaf infused drinking water

When we got there we were told there was a 30-45 minute wait, but we were happy to wait! Pok Pok has their own lounge, the Whiskey Soda Lounge,  right across the street where customers are told they can wait (Pok Pok will even call the Whiskey Soda Lounge when your table is ready). We decided to order drinking vinegars, because we had never heard of them, and they sounded very "interesting" and a little unappetizing (but since when has that every stopped me from eating or drinking something?!).  According to their menu drinking vinegars are becoming very popular in in Japan, and they are now becoming popular in Portland also, thanks to Pok Pok.

Pomegranate Drinking Vinegar at the Whiskey Soda Lounge

Drinking vinegars are very hard to find in the American market, as they are not your average vinegar one would use on a salad or to cook with. They come in a variety of flavors--I ordered pomegranate--and are diluted with some soda water and ice. In the end they have a sweet and tart flavor. To answer your question (which is the same question I asked the server), yes, you can taste the vinegar, but oddly enough it is a very satisfying a refreshing drink because of the vinegar. To read more about the drinking vinegars at Pok Pok, click here.

Pok Pok's Take-Out Shack

After waiting only about 30 minutes Pok Pok called us over and we were seated outside in the covered seating. Although it was a very chilly night, we were toasty warm thanks to the heat lamps! We had a very hard time choosing what to order because as we read the menu, each item sounded even tastier than the last. In the end we were relieved to realize Pok Pok usually serves family style, so we could share whatever we ordered, meaning we got to choose TWO items! Oh, how I love eating from everyone's dish!

Sticky Rice at Pok Pok

After much debating, we finally decided on Pok Pok's signature dish: Kai Yaang, which is, roasted natural game hen rubbed with lemongrass, garlic, pepper and cilantro served with a spicy sweet and sour dipping sauce. Much to my pleasure our waiter so kindly told us that it is intended to be eaten with your hands.

Cha Ca La Vong at Pok Pok

We also ordered Cha Ca La Vong, which is catfish marinated in turmeric and sour sticky rice, fried in turmeric oil with scallions and dill, served on rice vermicelli with peanuts, mint and mam nem (which is fermented anchovy sauce, that was out of this world delicious!). Dinner entrees range from $8.00-14.00. Pok Pok is famous for their Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, which we did not try, but they give me an excuse to go back! In 2007 these fish wings won Food and Wine's 10 Best Restaurant Dishes in America. In 2007 Pok Pok also won Best Oregonian Restaurant of the Year.

This restaurant has instantly gone on my personal list of favorite restaurants in Portland, and I look forward to going back in the near future!

My Quest For the Best Chicken Taco in Newberg

The best chicken taco in Newberg, OR at 
 Pastorcillo’s Tacos

A current food trend in Portland is street carts, which are essentially restaurants on wheels. They can be found dotting many streets, and you will find them serving everything from tacos, gyros, and coffee, to Pho and crepes. When in Portland I love to frequent these food carts, but when in Newberg I find myself in the same rut of eating at Sandwich Express and Burgerville. It wasn’t until I began to take a closer look at the “food scene” in Newberg that I discovered something exciting: we have food carts too! Now, of course, we do not have the wide selection of food carts the city of Portland does, but we do have three Mexican food carts, and I was determined to try them out and let you know what I discovered in the process. 

Before visiting Newberg’s three food carts for the first time, I decided that I would keep things consistent and only order a chicken taco at each. The first food cart I visited was Pastorcillo’s Tacos, on the corner of First and Main Street, located next to Naps Thriftway. I was very excited to notice that although their cart is closed on Sundays, it is open from 10:30 A.M. to 9 P.M. the rest of the week, which makes me think that it would be a great place to pick up a snack at night between studying. The chicken taco I purchased here consisted of two small, soft corn tortillas piled high with chicken in a red sauce, and topped with onions, cilantro, and green salsa. Served on the side was a wedge of lime and a pile of radish slices. This taco only cost me $1.25! 

Chicken taco from Tacos El Padrino 

The second food cart I visited was Tacos El Padrino (The Godfather), which is located on North Elliot Road across the street from Burgerville.  Look for the flashing strobe light. Tacos El Padrino advertises that they are open from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Again I purchased a chicken taco, and this time paid $1.50 for it. It was a smaller taco, but had a spicy and tasty green chili sauce. Although this taco cost 25 cents more than the previous taco, El Padrino’s usually has a $1.00 taco special, which was pork on the day I visited. 

Tacos El Padrino

Maria’s Tacos, located across Highway 99 from Tacos El Padrino, was the final taco stand I visited. The woman running the cart—who I assume was Maria herself—was friendly and welcoming. She graciously took my order and very quickly turned out an open-faced taco pilled so high with meat I couldn’t even roll it up. Maria’s chicken taco was at the competitive price of $1.25, but her menu board was slightly confusing, as most of the items did not have prices listed next to them, and the hours were not posted.  However, I visited Maria’s Tacos on a rainy day, and was happy to find that Maria’s has an undercover seating area attached to her cart so you can order out of the rain. 

            Chicken taco from Maria's Tacos 

All three of the menus had very similar items: burritos, tacos with a variety of meat (you can even order tongue or tripe, which is stomach), tamales, quesadillas, tortas (which are Mexican sandwiches), and sometimes combination plates served with rice and beans. Although I recommend all three, I would have to say my overall favorite Mexican food cart in Newberg is Pastorcillo’s Tacos. They have the latest hours, the largest menu, the most competitive prices, and in my opinion the best chicken taco.

So, I propose this to you: the next time you are craving Mexican food and want a quick grab-and-go meal, don’t settle for Taco Bell, order a chicken taco from a local family serving up great Mexican food only blocks from campus! Don’t forget your “cash,” though, as most food carts do not accept debit or credit cards. Enjoy! 

Maria's Taco Cart

This article can also be viewed at The Crescent, my university's newspaper here

Home Cheese Making

 My friend Heidi and I attended a cheese making class last weekend put on by Kookoolan Farms, a local farm in Yamhill that raises chicken for eggs and meat, sells raw milk, and grows vegetables. They have a store that sells the largest (and only) selection of home cheese making supplies on the west coast.

At the demonstration Kookoolan owner Chrissie showed us how to made fromage blanc, a soft white cheese. It is very easy to make and only requires a gallon of whole milk and a small package of culture (that can be purchased at the Kookoolan store for about $6 for 5 packages). The cheese is really great mixed with garlic and herbs (tasting similar to boursin cheese).

Chrissie then showed up how to turn the fromage blanc into coeur a la creme, a sweet cheese similar to creme cheese or the inside of a cheesecake! She placed this cheese into heart molds--in honor of Valentines Day--to create a very cute dessert! Heidi and I decided we needed to try to make this cheese on our own so the next weekend we set to work on creating a few varieties of this soft cheese (you can view Heidi's blog post about this cheese adventure here). The first variation we made by adding garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to the plain fromage blanc. Heidi and I ate it with rosemary triscuit crackers and it was DELICIOUS! We also used the plain fromage blanc to make a cherry spread, by adding chopped canned cherries.

We then made some of the fromage blanc into coeur a la creme and added lemon curd. We put it in cute molds and let it set a little bit in the refrigerator (not quite long enough as we were very impatient). This lemon curd coeur a la creme was very easy to make and we could not get over how delicious it was! I could have ate a whole bowl of it!

Here are the recipes from Kookoolan Farms:

Fromage Blanc

• 1/2 gallon milk, do not use ultra-pasteurized 
• Fromage blanc culture

Warm the milk to 86 degrees F.  Add the culture. Let stand 12 hours at room temperature or until the curd is set (like yogurt). Gently pour into a colander lined with butter muslin or cheesecloth. Tie up the corners and hang about 12 hours, over the sink or into a bowl. (The translucent yellow-green fluid that drains is whey, which may be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 months, or frozen up to one year. Whey can be used in orange juice, lemonade, or in many lacto-fermented vegetable recipes, or for soaking beans or grains.) When drained to your texture preference, transfer the cheese to a covered dish and store in the refrigerator up to 10 days. Fromage blanc is great with garlic and herbs, or with smoked salmon, or with dried cranberries and walnuts, or used to make Coeur a la creme.

Coeur a la Creme

• 1 cup finished fromage blanc 
• 1 Tbsp granulated white sugar
• 1 Tbsp heavy creme
• 2 egg whites, beaten until stiff

1. Combine cheese, sugar, and creme. Fold in the egg whites. 
2. Spoon into individual heart-shaped mold lined with butter muslin. Place the molds on a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator 6 to 10 hours.
3. Gently pull up the butter muslin to remove the hearts from the molds.
4.  Serve with fresh fruit, syrup, or melted chocolate.

How to Grow Your Own Sprouts at Home

At the George Fox University's Food Meet 2010 I visited a student booth that was promoting the concept of growing your own food--even during the winter. They were handing out canning jars that had a small handful of alfalfa seeds in the bottom and a piece of cloth covering the top.

I think that eating something that you have grown yourself is one of the most rewarding things a person can do. It is very reassuring knowing that the food I am eating has not had any harmful chemicals sprayed all over it. I love that I can support and nourish myself the way people did in the beginning of time, by living on food that I have grown myself!

The students were handing out alfalfa seeds because growing alfalfa sprouts is one of the easiest foods to grow inside a home during the winter. Here are the instructions for doing this yourself:

1. Put a small handful of alfalfa seeds into a jar that is fit with a metal ring and a piece of cloth.
2. Soak seeds overnight: fill jar 1/4 full with room-temperature water and let sit.
3. Pour out water and let seeds sit. Seeds should be wet and have access to air so don't let them clump. Roll jar around so seeds cling to jar then lay on side. Keep in 70-80 degrees F. 
4. Rinse seeds every 24 hours. Pour cool water into jar, swirl around, pour out water and roll jar so seeds stick again. 
5. Put out in sunlight when sprouts are big enough, usually 5th or 6th day. Spread them out in sunlight at least 15 minutes. The light activates the enzymes, making them greener and tastier!
6. Enjoy them! 

One Can Never Have Too Much Cheese...

The day had started as what I had thought would be a lazy Sunday--Lydia and I were still in bed at noon, still in our pajamas, and playing around on our computers--when we came up with what we believed was a genius idea: drive to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, snag a few cheese samples, wolf down a chocolate peanut butter waffle ice cream cone and come back home. We used the common excuse: "It's for the FOOD BLOG!!!"

So, we quickly took our showers and jumped in the car immediately. We drove 1 hours and 45 minutes until at last we saw our destination in the foreground, the beautiful blue sign saying "Tillamook Cheese!" We ran inside with as much enthusiasm as most of the 5 year-old's we saw and immediately got in line to get our ice cream cones (Lydia decided that way she would be perfectly content and would not be rushing me through the self guided factory tour). We got very excited in line because they had three new ice cream flavors: peanut butter pie, sticky bun, and cake batter. The cake batter was excellent and very sweet, and the sticky bun really tasted like a cinnamon roll! I had a scoop of the peanut butter pie (peanut butter desserts are my biggest weakness), but I have to say that the chocolate peanut butter is still my all time favorite.

We sampled some cheese, went on the cheese factory tour (which is very fun and informative), I bought a loaf of garlic cheddar and we headed home. I would say our spontaneous cheese adventure was a great success!

A Taste of Cuba in the Heart of Portland!

When driving on Northeast Glisan Street you might spot this brightly colored building that looks very out of place in the rainy city of Portland, but step inside the Pambiche Restaurant, and you are immediately transported to Cuba! The actual inside seating area itself is very small and can only accommodate about 25 people, but not to worry, there is outdoor seating also. Pambiche has won many awards and has been mentioned in numerous food magazines. There is often a line waiting to get in, and such was the case with my first visit. 

Pambiche is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is open until midnight on Friday and Saturday nights! Cuban-Creole cuisine often consists of a variety of marinated meats such as beef, pork, and chicken, and most meals are served with rice and beans. Tostones are the french fries of the Caribbean, and a popular Cuban side dish. They are fried green plantains (similar to a banana) served with salsa and lime.

Pambiche takes great pride in their desserts, which is clear by their extensive menu and glass case full of treats. While I was dining there I had the pleasure of enjoying the Torta Dominó, a white chocolate cake finished with chocolate ganache and a white chocolate domino piece. Pambiche also has a non-alcoholic drink menu that is hard to rival; their lemonades with fresh pressed sugar cane juice bring a new flavor to a familiar drink, and the Cuban milkshakes such as Plátano, a banana spice milkshake, are delicious. A personal favorite of mine, and a very warm and cozy drink to have while taking advantage of Pambiche's outdoor dining during the winter (yes, I did that last weekend!) is the Oaxacan hot chocolate. It is a very rich hot chocolate with a touch of cinnamon and topped with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and mint (and only $3)! This drink is something I know I will crave all winter long, and I can't wait to go back and get it again.